1. You recorded this album "secretly, " nobody knew that Lycia was working on new tracks ! Why did you choose this "strategy?" Mike had given up on music for nearly two full years before he even picked up his guitar. He started writing songs and really didn't have any intentions of recording or releasing another album. He found himself in a position with a lot of free time so he decided to go ahead a record the songs he had written on the accoustic guitar. He didn't even tell me he was recording until he was about halfway through the album. There was really no "strategy" behind keeping it secret, just didn't want people to get excited in case he decided to shelve the whole thing.

2. With Tripping back into the broken days, you obviously come back to your first mucical atmospheres, is it a way to start a kind of new beginning ? That's exactly what this album is about. Mike and I have felt we've been sort of misrepresented in the past by the press and in various other ways. This album was really just about getting back to the roots of music. We wanted to strip back a lot of the trappings and just let the song writing come through. I think it definatly feels like a new chapter.

3. Your music is still very ethereal, but it seems more "bald," the orchestration is more refined, is it a way to emphasize the emotionnal side of your compositions ? We really wanted the song writing to come through. In the past a lot of the vocals were so affected you couldn't really hear the words and melodies and the guitars were so processed they sounded like another synth. We were so happy with the songs we wanted them stripped back, almost bare, so that people could really understand and hear where we were coming from with the songs and lyrics. We also didn't want to cover up the richness of the accoustic guitar since it was a very important element to the release. I think it's also very raw emotionally. Anyone who knows our personal history will honestly know what each and every song is about. Writing my songs was a pretty brutal process. At one point I had actually given up and told Mike to go on without me. So for me these songs are VERY important. And once again Mike has kicked me in the chest with his song writing.

4. What are these "Broken Days " you're tripping back into in the title ? Well, I could probably go on for about three and a half hours here, I'll give you the condensed version. This release is basically a chronicle of a pretty intense time in our lives. Mike and I had gone through a lot between his health problems, losing his mother, giving up music, my parents getting divorced, losing our jobs and moving back to Phoenix from Ohio. I think this album is really just a culmination of a lot of sad moments in our personal history. Returning back to the desert was/is a pretty strange experience for Mike. The last time he lived here his mother was still alive, he was healthy and he was living a very different, more carefree life. It's just been a real strange couple of years and somehow these things always come through the music in some way or another..

5. The main topic of this album is a trip across the USA, did the sad events of last September inspired you for a kind of tribute to your country or does this topic come from a completely different thing ? All these songs were recorded prior to September 11th so that really had nothing to do with this album. Those events have definatly impacted us in a tremendous way though. We were watching the television when the second plane hit and I definatly think it changed our perceptions forever. Mike and I have always loved traveling and picking up the different "vibes" of places. We've driven across the country many, many times on tour as well as on personal trips and traveling has definatly been an EMMENSE influence on our perceptions of this country as well as our personal lives and music. Mike has a degree in Geography, so seeing the country with his own eyes has influenced him on many levels.

6. Steve Roach, another "regular " of the label Projekt, has contributed to the recording of this album, could you tell us about this collaboration ? Mike has been a fan of Steve for YEARS. Thankfully we live rather close to eachother which made working with him easy. Steve was so much fun to work with and working with him was such an honour. He has such a great ear and such great perceptions and insights. We really felt like he understood EXACTLY where we were coming from and he really enhanced the ambience of the album with his insights and perceptions.

7. Who are the modern artists that inspire you or that you would like to work with ? Mike and I would love to work with Steve and Roger King again. We're also big fans of Radiohead.

8. Lycia has been existing for 14 years now ! How do you look at your career as a whole ? What would you change if you were given the opportunity to switch the time back ? That's such a hard question to answer. I think there are a lot of things we wish could've happened....but there's really no point in questioning things now. Unfortunatly Mike being diagnosed diabetic sort of changed our perception of what we could accomplish with our music career. The traveling aspect and meeting so many nice people is something we both really enjoyed. There are a few really important shows that stand out for us. Of course the music itself is really important! Do we wish we could've gone farther? Yes. But I don't think there are any real regrets. Things happen how they happen and there's really no use questioning the past as there's nothing we can do to change it. I think we probably made some bad decisions.....but that's life!

thanks for including us and being interested enough in our release to ask insightful questions! :)

xox tara xox